Page 105 of A Curse On Black Lake
“Can I help with one of your crosswords?” she asks.
I point to the book on the coffee table. She looks over her shoulder and starts to get off my lap to get it, but I grip her hips and lean forward, forcing her to lean back so I can grab the book with the pencil in it.
“You made that way more complicated than it needed to be,” she says.
I chuckle. “Not really, I didn’t want you to move.”
She snorts and shakes her head, taking the puzzle book from my hand.
“Twenty-two across, the clue is, jam.”
“How many letters?” I ask her.
“Eight,” she says.
I open my mouth to answer, then something slams against the house, making both of us jump. I almost throw Eliana off my lap, but she grabs my shoulders and squeezes, keeping me there for a breath.
Her eyes glaze over, and I gently push herontothe cushion,and go to the closet to grab my shotgun. Checking her again, her eyes are still glazed, and I know they are talking to her right now.
Leaning the barrel against my shoulder, I peek out the window. It could be anything, stupid teens messing around, someone actually coming for me, or Eliana. Or, I guess it could be the wind.
Unable to see anything, I head for the door to check it out. The dogs are out with the cattle, so they aren’t there to bark a warning. They already ran over here, ate, and then went back to the herd.
“Don’t go outside,” Eliana says.
My hand pauses on the door. “Didn’t you hear that? I need to check it out.”
“Please don’t,” she says.
I frown and look out the window. Then, I faintly hear slow, rhythmic scratches on wood. That’s … odd.
“What the hell,” I mutter and go towards the kitchen where I think it’s coming from and look out the window. Still nothing.
Someone is out there trying to mess with us, and I won’t have it.
Then, so quietly I hear moaning, as if someone is hurt. My blood runs cold, and the hair on the back of my neck stands on end.
“Please, I’m begging you, don’t go outside. There are things out there you cannot kill with a gun,” Eliana says, almost breathless, like she’s scared but doesn’t want to let it show.
I jerk at her words, confused, and I’ll never admit it, but it sends an icicle of fear down my spine.
“What’s outside Eliana?”
She swallows thickly and finally meets my eyes. “There are things in this world that should not be messed with. Do you understand? You can’t give them an opening because they will take it.”
I look outside again and see something barely within the view of the window. It’s a tall, dark figure, shaped like a human, but then right before my eyes it turns nearly translucent. The moon is so bright I can see the roof of the barn through the figure.
Blinking a few times, the figure moves, and the back of my neck throbs as it turns, and I swear it’s looking at me, begging me to open the door, to go to it.
Then it’s gone. In a blink.
Eliana remains still with her back to the window. But her lips are moving, without words passing through them.
I set the shotgun next to the door and keep checking the windows, while keeping an eye on Eliana. I’m not sure what’s happening or what to make of it. Her connection to the veil is a little eerie at the moment, and it makes me wonder if I’m ableto see these things because I’ve accepted that this world is full of much more than what we can see.
Pacing between windows, I spot another outline of a ghost, only this time it’s in the shape of a woman. She turns and I nearly trip over my feet.
“Mom?” I rasp.
